


Absolutely 'Armless

by justbygrace



Series: Reimagining 'Rose' [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: A retelling of 'Rose', Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 20:43:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9343070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justbygrace/pseuds/justbygrace
Summary: A first sentence provided prompt that got a little out of hand.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote several re-imaginings of 'Rose' - this is the first to be moved back over to AO3

Rose thought this would be harmless, but strange things happen, as strange things are wont to do. After all, how difficult could it be to dress up like an elf and pass out gifts to the kids? It was the popular thing to do that season for poor uni students just trying to earn something to pay for their food for the next semester, at least five of her friends were also running around in red and green body suits.

It was a great deal less fun than she had anticipated it being - she'd been kicked, bitten, scratched, and spit on by angry, squalling children who either really did want to see Santa or really did not. But she did need the money and it kept her coming back every day regardless of the hazards. 

On Day Three Rose was halfway through her shift and leaning against the wall, trying to catch her breath after chasing a toddler through the mass of holiday shoppers, when she spotted movement down a side hall dangerously close to the employee entrance. With a deep sigh she pushed off the wall and headed after the disturbance, figuring it was probably another wayward child ducking their guardian's grip to explore.

Only when she arrived at the hall it was completely empty except for a manikin trying to get into the side door. She blinked, no, that couldn't be right - it was just standing there, left by some careless employee who had ducked out to grab a smoke. Sighing she headed down to pick it up and shove it into the closet, only to have it elude her grasp, moving further down the hallway. 

Rose rubbed her eyes, beginning to get irritated by this whole thing. This had the markings of Derek all over it - that jerk was always pulling crap like this, just last week he had put salt in her coffee and hidden her costume. Everyone told her it was because he had a crush on her, but Rose didn't care what his feelings were - he was rude and his behavior was uncalled for.

"Derek, I swear if you're hiding somewhere," she said through gritted teeth, starting down the hallway again.

The manikin continued to move further from her, edging closer to the hall leading to the exit. Sighing, Rose turned around, not interested in playing Derek's stupid games only to discover that two more manikins had appeared. This time they blocked her way back to the main mall.

"Derek, this isn't funny. I've got work to do," Rose called, trying to shoulder her way past the manikins.

They didn't let her, moving shoulder to shoulder and looking more menacing than she knew manikins could. From behind them she could see more manikins starting to gather. Rose cursed under her breath, irritated by university students' sense of humor - leave it to them to come up with something this juvenile. 

As she stared at the wall of manikins, she tried to figure out what she was going to do next. She could hear the telltale sound of breaking glass and looked up to see a manikin standing in the shattered remains of a door. This little joke was getting out of hand and she desperately hoped they would all get fired for it, starting with Derek. Rose attempted to shove at the manikins, letting out a small shriek of her own when they shoved back, their hands lowering off their arms in a weird parody of a gun. 

Before she could work out what she was going to do next, a hand gripped hers and a voice whispered, "Run."

Looking back over her shoulder, Rose was startled to see a man there, a stranger to her with a broad forehead, cropped hair, and prominent ears. His eyes were crystal blue and sincere and, since she didn't feel like she had any better options, Rose shrugged and allowed him to pull her towards the exit.

It wasn't until they neared the exit that Rose realized the mysterious man wasn't concerned about the safety of anyone else.

"Whoa," she exclaimed, stopping running so quickly the man nearly lost his balance and glared at her. "What about the rest of the people?"

He continued to glare at her. "Why do you care about them?"

"Why don't you?" Rose countered, catching sight of the advancing manikins and tugging him further around the corner. She wasn't about to leave the crowds of people to face manikins alone, but she didn't necessarily want to endanger herself more than was necessary either.

The man let out a sigh. "What do you suggest?"

"Pull the alarm," Rose said at once. 

His expression softened as he considered her with more intention. "Not bad." She smiled and he went on, "But it would just cause a panic."

"There's already a panic," she argued. "I'm sure we can save some of them. And watch out behind you!"

The man spun around, pulling a silver cylindrical object from his pocket and aiming it at the manikin advancing upon them. "Mind your eyes," he barked.

Rose watched through squinted eyes as blue light pulsed out of the object, hitting the manikin and causing it to shrivel. All that was left was an arm and this the man picked up and tossed at her like she wanted it and had asked for it. She opened her eyes wide and then narrowed them. There were about a thousand and one questions she wanted to ask, but there was no time.

"Doesn't sound like this is a panic yet," she said instead. "And a fire alarm would cause a milder panic than whatever those students are up to."

"Students?" he asked, genuine curiosity in his tone.

She shrugged. "It's just the sort of thing Derek would orchestrate," 

"Who's Derek? Never mind." He waved his hand. "It's not students. Well-reasoned, but not students."

"Well whatever they are. The point is, panic and mass chaos and death. I think we should try to avoid that." She crossed her arms, unwilling to give any ground.

He looked at her like he wanted to question her use of the word "we" but chose not to. With a decisive nod, he turned around and aimed his device at the nearest fire alarm. Immediately the pulsing sounds of the alarm started and water droplets began spraying everywhere.

Grabbing her hand again, he once more turned towards the exit. "Now we run."

This time she agreed and they did, not stopping until the door was closed behind them. With a nod, the man turned and began to walk away, heading for the fire escape.

"Where are you going?" Rose asked, trying to understand why it looked like he was heading straight back towards danger.

"To try to cut it off at the source. Don't worry, I'll most likely die in the process," he explained cheerfully, grabbing the fire escape and swinging it the rest of the way down. "But you should keep running. This building is going to blow in about twenty-eight minutes."

Rose stared at him, one hand swinging the plastic arm aimlessly. She didn't like the lackadaisical way he talked about his own death and she couldn't begin to work out how he thought he was going to stop the...well, whatever was going on, but so much had happened in such a short time that she didn't know which one to tackle first.

"Oh," the man paused, walking back towards her with his hand outstretched. "I'm the Doctor by the way. And who are you?"

"Rose," she said, somewhat taken aback by his abrupt change in demeanor. "Rose Tyler."

"Well, Rose Tyler," the man said her name significantly. "Run."

She nodded, letting go of his hand and taking off down the street. The only thought going through her mind was the feeling that was not the last time she would see the Doctor, nor did she want it to be.


End file.
